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The ERA Open Advice report and related Policy Brief come at a time when we seek a renewed momentum to support Europe’s way out of the crisis and tackle grand challenges through an improved European Research Area (ERA). They offer a great opportunity to step back and raise a critical wake-up call on the very purpose, shape and ambition of ERA. Here we have captured the essence of ERA stakeholders’ views on rethinking ERA priorities and broadening the agenda.

Three key messages and a considerable number of policy issues have emerged: First, the existing ERA priorities are of great importance and should be further pursued. Second, however, there is a concern that the definition of those priorities is too narrow and not flexible enough and thus must be re-visited. Third, and even more important, the debate has led to the identification of new ERA dimensions that have not been captured in the ERA discourse so far, but which deserve more policy attention and integration into the evolving dimensions of the European R&I landscape.